Bittersweet ≈ Seonghwa [NEW!]

Guardian

"Yeona!"

I ran to the restaurant kitchen as soon as I hear the chef call me.

"Kimchi pancake for table 12!"

Picking up the plate, I walked towards the table and set it down.

Using a pair of tongs and scissors, I flipped and cut the meat of the barbeque for the customers.

'Today is surprisingly busy' I thought to myself as I adjusted the heat of the fire.

"Miss! Can this be flipped over already?" A customer called.

I jogged over and did my job.

As soon as the clock reached 5pm, I left the restaurant and headed over to the cinema.

Not gonna lie, my energy was hitting a whole new level of zero. I spaced out standing by the ticket counter as no customers came by.

"Yeona!"

My eyes shot wide open as I balanced myself back on the podium.

"You were supposed to usher the customers in! They just walked past you!" My boss nagged.

I bowed repeatedly, "I'm so sorry, it won't happen again."

She approached me and handed me a tin of cold brew coffee.

"You work too hard. I saw you run here from your job at KBBQ. Why don't you go home tonight? You look like you haven't slept."

I laughed, "Yea, actually I haven't slept properly in a year."

My boss tilted her head as if confused, "What do you mean?"

I shook my head, "Nevermind. Thanks boss. You're the best."

She patted my back as I took my bag and left.

"Ahhh fresh air!" I stretched leaving the cinema. "It's 2am, I can't wait to-" just then, I spotted a familiar face sprinting at full speed across the lane from where I was standing.

Seonghwa?

A group of other men were chasing him really closely. Worried that it might be him, I crossed the street at green light.

With light steps, I ran after them but they were too fast. I slowed down to a jog after approaching a dimly lit alley.

Where did they go? Just then, the sounds of thuds and shouts followed by crashes, caught my attention.

Swiftly, I followed the sound to a corner where a gang seems to be beating up another man.

The man got up to fight back but he was outnumbered. He fell the to floor, clutching his stomach while coughing.

"Oh shiet, what do I do?!" I switched my phone on to call the police but my phone battery was dying and it couldn't connect to the line.

Looking around, I picked up a long metal rod lying amongst the dirt.I've got to help!

Here goes nothing.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!" I shouted as loud as I could and swung the rod randomly at the gang members.

"LEAVE! HIM! ALONE!" I yelled as I whacked the rod on the head of a member.

That same member yanked the rod away from my grip and did a whole 360 degree kick on my back.

I fell smack onto the rough pavement next to the injured man.

"Y-yeona?"

My head turned to the voice. I was right!

"Seonghwa!" I winced at the pain and pushed myself to sit up, facing the gang. With both my hands spread out on my sides, it was a sign that I didn't want them to hurt him anymore. I somehow thought doing that would mean I'm shielding him from them but instead, one of the guys easily yanked my arm and pulled me aside.

I yelled, hoping someone would hear the ruckus.

And someone did.

"HEY!" Right behind the gang that had us cornered, were 7 members.

The Leaders.

Hongjoong laughed before he signalled, "LET'S GO!" charging an attack. I quickly crawled over to Seonghwa's side and bent over him, hoping he wouldn't get hit.

A hard whack to my back sent me yelping in pain and Seonghwa's arm quickly reached out to pull me closer.

I felt him slowly sitting up while still holding me close. The closeness, I could smell his cologne on his shirt. His lips were bleeding and my hands were itching to wipe it off for him.

His large hand held me by the small of back. Boy, I'm nervous. I should do something.

"Sorry, let me just get back at whoever just hit me," I broke the awkwardness and spun round carefully.

I noticed a piece of broken wooden crate lying on the ground. I lifted it up, "Who the f--k hit me?!"

Jongho who was battling someone quickly gripped on the guy's sleeves, "This one! Get him!"

I brought the wood high up above my head and crashed it hard down on the guy's back.

Jongho laughed, "You got him!"

I was high-fiving Jongho when suddenly Wooyoung yelled, "Hyung watch out!"

The corner of my eyes caught Seonghwa in danger of being hit with a bat. But before he could get hurt, I was close enough to kick the offender's nut. I caught the weapon before it fell and threw it to Yunho who used it to knock the daylights out of the dude he was fighting.

Talk about teamwork.

I dusted my hands off and quickly headed over to Seonghwa. San was already helping him up and they all gave me a look.

"What?"

"Never thought such a goody-two-shoes liked to fight," Yunho said, crossing him arms.

"I don't like to fight, it's called self-defense," I replied shrugging, a little too happy that we beat those guys.

As we started walking out the alley, I noticed something off.

"Hold up," the whole group stopped in their tracks and turned to me. "How did you know we were here?"

Hongjoong and the other members exchanged looks.

Seonghwa frowned, "Y-yea how did you guys find out where we were?"

Wooyoung raised his arms up in defeat, "FINE we were stalking Yeona! We just wanted to know if she was lying about her crazy jobs but it's real! She's crazy! What, do you have like 10 jobs at once?"

Yunho went, "Tsk tsk tsk", and then he shook his head slowly, "She's got a life alright. A sad, miserable one."

I scoffed.

Yeosang shrugged, "But hey, aren't you glad we stalked you? You two could've died."

"Well, if you put it that way then-I guess thank you?" I replied.

It was a wholesome trip back home. Jongho rode Seonghwa's motorbike while the rest of us got in the van.

Let's just say it was a comforting kind of noisy, as I listened to them bicker about who fought best when Seonghwa couldn't.

"Yeosang!" I voted, putting my hand up.

"EHHHH?!???"